Eureka RapidWash NEW430 Review: Simple Cordless Vacuum And Mop Power With On-Point Value

Anyone with uncarpeted floors whether they are tile, hardwood, concrete, or vinyl knows that keeping them clean can be a hassle. While an old fashioned low-tech mop will do the job, it comes with certain drawbacks. To overcome these drawbacks and present a more hassle-free floor cleaning experience, Eureka now offers its RapidWash NEW430 floor cleaner. 

You may be familiar with the Eureka name as the company has been around since 1909. It is known primarily for its vacuums, and most Americans likely have experience with one or more of their products.

Lately, the company has been pushing out vacuums packed with modern technology and innovative features, such as its E10S robotic vacuum with LIDAR navigation. And while Eureka may have produced good vacuums for decades, carpet's popularity has been waning for some time as solid flooring increasingly takes its place. Not wanting to leave a segment of the market unserved, the subject of this review is made just for those of us with wood, vinyl, or other hard floors. Now is this floor cleaner as good as its vacuums? It might be better. Fortunately, Eureka provided SlashGear with a new RapidWash for evaluation to see if it lives up to the company's reputation.

Opening the box of this product reveals a minimalist design. This is meant to be an easy-to-use product, beginning with unpacking it. Inside the box is the cleaner itself, a charging base, a wall plug, an owner's manual, and a cleaning brush. It couldn't be much simpler to unpack and set up. Overall the design is sleek while avoiding too much flair. It is a tool to aid in cleaning and whether it gets the job done is ultimately more important than having flashy colors and overwrought flourishes. I like the simplicity here, as I use a lot of tools, and the way they look is never very high on my priority list.

While the visual design is understated and simple, the engineering is rather advanced. For one, the total weight of this machine is just 8.16 pounds, and because it is battery-powered, it lacks a bulky cord, avoiding one of the biggest hassles with floor cleaning machines. 

At the heart of its is a BLDC motor, a type of brushless DC motor, that Eureka claims the be capable of up to 15,000 Pa (15 kPa) suction. The Pa stands for Pascals (while kPa stands for Kilopascals), which means nothing to me on its face, but for comparison, of the most powerful cordless vacuums available, they top out at just under 30 kPa. Considering those are made for only vacuuming carpet, 15 kPa for a dual-purpose machine sounds competitive to me.

Other features of not include self propulsion to make it effortless to use, dual anti-entanglement system to keep the roller spinning freely, and the indispensable self-cleaning capability. Runtime according to Eureka is about 25 minutes and charges take about 3 hours. They also claim a water return rate of up to 90%, and if you have experience with other floor cleaners, especially older models, this is important. I have used many methods of cleaning my floors over the years including a variety of electrical devices, and having them leave the floor wet after cleaning is always a problem. It is certainly a problem using a mop as a certain amount of drying time is unavoidable.

On the front of the main body is a simple and straightforward LED display showing its state of charge and which mode is set. There are only three cleaning modes: "Dry," "Eco," and "Turbo." "Dry" makes the machine act like a wet/dry vac while "Eco" shifts to cleaning in a water-saving mode and "Turbo" opens up its full cleaning potential. 

It also comes with a talking function, or "voice announcement feature." I find these types of functions to be a bit annoying, but Eureka describes it as something to help those with impaired vision. Since any technology that increases accessibility is a good thing, the talking is a worthwhile function to include. Plus, it can be turned off.

The unit I received came with a healthy charge right out of the box. Since I was unable to test it immediately, it went on the charger and I got the chance to use it with a full battery. I have a bad habit of trying out new things without reading the manual, so I grabbed it from the charger and proceeded to fumble around with it, finding the controls to be easy to figure out and generally painless. 

The first time I powered the vacuum up, the sound of the motor made me think it was going to be reasonably powerful. Sometimes electric motors just have a certain sound that conveys their strength. However, it was also relatively quiet, especially compared to the cantankerous machines I have used in the past.

The lightness of this vacuum combined with its self-propulsion feature makes using the device feel effortless. The ergonomic grip is comfortable and the entire unit feels like it's gliding across the floor as it is pushed along. However, when dragging it back towards you, the friction is noticeable — this is when it does the most cleaning. The size is manageable being both small enough to fit into tight spaces but large enough to get a fair amount of floor cleaned before the 25-minute battery is empty. With a 3-hour charge time, you kind of need to plan ahead.

Before moving into my current house, engineered faux wood floors were installed. This was about six or seven years ago — and keeping them clean has always been a challenge. I found an excellent mop with a spinning basket on the bucket to wring the mop out and have found it to be easy to use and highly effective. Compared to the old mop, this machine by Eureka feels like a game changer.

Not only is it easy to use, it does a great job. The water return rate of 90% I mentioned previously feels accurate. When cleaning the floor and taking each pass, I immediately saw that the floor was clean but had to double check that water was still flowing because it remained remarkably dry. It made it possible to clean the floor and walk on it almost instantly. Furthermore, it cleans up dirt with ease, even mud tracked in on shoes. The ability to clean the floor in an instant and having no messy cleanup of the cleaning equipment except to empty the dirty water tank makes the job much less arduous than before using my old mop.

Justin Owen/SlashGear

Sweeping before mopping is usually imperative for any floor cleaning. However, with the RapidWash, bits of detritus remaining on the floor simply gets sucked up, allowing you to go on about cleaning without stopping every few minutes to pick up a piece of paper or errant crumb. Small spills take minutes to eliminate, requiring no time to prepare in advance or clean up afterwards.

I have mentioned many facets of this cleaner that have impressed me in one way or another, but it does have some drawbacks. First among them is the runtime. 25 minutes is probably plenty of time for probably two-thirds of people and two-thirds of cleaning jobs. But if you need to do a deep clean of your home or if your home is particularly large, more time will certainly be needed. Furthermore, it has no removable battery pack, tethering you to the 3-hour charge time no matter what. Also, while it is relatively compact, you will need something else to get in really tight spaces such as around the toilet. I managed to get one side of mine but needed my trusty mop to complete the job.

I feel as though a large portion of this review has already been a list of pros, but I can think of a few more. The roller design uses a sort of felt-like material that appears to clean very well while not accumulating much, if any, debris. Additionally, it does an excellent job of separating hair and diverting it to the wastewater tank. It does a reasonably good job cleaning up to the edges of the floor and is also easy to get the roller out for deep cleaning.

For cleaning your floors, you have an endless array of products to choose from. Of course, the $1.25 mop from the Dollar Tree is going to be a frustrating and less effective choice, but moving up to a SwitchBot S10 autonomous robotic floor cleaner will set you back more than $1000. Fortunately, the Eureka RapidWash falls somewhere in the middle at $300.

A similar product in handheld form, the Tineco Floor One Switch S7 Smart Multi-Function Cleaner, is a good choice but its current price is $899, making the Eureka a bargain, even though it is less versatile. Furthermore, Ryobi offers a variety of affordable floor cleaner kits and accessories, but they are not dedicated floor cleaners and are less desirable options. 

For further comparison, I checked the Home Depot website and found similar cleaners priced from $285 to $399, meaning the Eureka model is competitively priced right around the median. Also, if you want something with more power, you might want to try the steam cleaning abilities of the Eufy Mach V1 Ultra – but again, you have to pay for that sort of feature-full device at about $700. For what the Eureka RapidWash NEW430 offers, its price seems pretty spot-on.

As someone who has had a need for a machine like this for years, it was a welcome surprise to find how effective it is. Its lightweight construction and sleek but minimalist design are both contributing factors to its appeal. Furthermore, it works as advertised, offering pretty much exactly what Eureka says it will — no more, no less. Its simple operation prevents it from being overly technical and its ease of use make it appropriate for just about anyone to use.

It is easy to see good value in Eureka's RapidWash NEW430. The pricing reflects what appears to be good market research in placing it above the ultra-cheap no-name gear while keeping its price and features below the highest-end cordless cleaners that comes with more features than the average person would ever use. Supposing you're working with hard surface floors and have a need for simple cleaning power, the Eureka RapidWash NEW430 might just be the perfect solution for you. 

The Eureka RapidWash NEW430 will be available for sale online soon.